So the woman said to her, "Very good. Sit here in my house."
Now this is the story of Paka the cat, which comes from long ago, and this is the reason why a cat will leave a man and follow a woman.
XXVI
THE TALE OF THE MERCHANT AND HIS BAG OF GOLD
ONCE upon a time there was a merchant, and he resolved to go on a journey to a far country to trade, that he might return with profit.
Now this merchant took money needful for his journey, and of what he had left he was afraid that in his absence it might be stolen.
So he thought to himself, "If I leave this bag of gold in my house it may be stolen, and if I give it to a friend to keep for me he may use it for his own purposes."
So he bethought himself of a stratagem.
He poured all his gold into the bottom of a large leather skin. When he had done this he took oil of coco-nuts and filled the skin with it and fastened it securely at the mouth.
Then he took the skin of oil to a neighbour, who was a friend of his, and said to him, "Oh, my friend, I have resolved to go on a journey, and wish to leave this skin of coco-nut oil with you. Will you keep it safely for me, that I may find it on my return?"